East Grinstead Hockey Club

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East Grinstead Hockey Club
East Grinstead Hockey Club (logo).png
Founded1897
League Men's England Hockey League
Women's England Hockey League
London Hockey League
South League
Based in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England
Home groundSaint Hill
ColoursWhite shirt, Navy shorts/skorts, White socks (Home)
Navy shirt, White shorts/skorts, Navy socks (Away)
ChairmanChris Vallis-Wilson
CaptainSimon Faulkner, Guadalupe Fernández Lacort

East Grinstead Hockey Club is a professional field hockey club based in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England. It is one of the most successful clubs in the United Kingdom with National League Outdoor and Indoor honours. It was founded in 1897. The home ground is at EGSC, near Saint Hill. The club has a water-based pitch with seats for the spectators as well as a 3G Hockey/Football pitch and clubhouse. The stadium is named Saint Hill.

Contents

The Men's 1st XI play in the Men's England Hockey League and the Women's 1st XI play in the Women's England Hockey League. The club currently fields five men's teams, four women's teams and respective youth development teams. The men's team have been champions of England on four occasions (1984–85, 1985–86, 2008–09, 2009–10) and the women's team have been champions of England on one occasion. [1] [2]

Every three years, the club hosts the Jacques Paloume tournament. [3]

History

EGHC Men's 1st Team first EHL title came in 1983, they then won the National Indoor Hockey League in 1986. In 2006 the men's Indoor squad were the National Indoor Champions, so that the 2006/7 season saw East Grinstead competing in Europe for the first time in many years. The Club represented England at the European Indoor Champions Trophy in Brussels, winning Silver medals, and securing promotion to the A Division of the Indoor Championship next season. In 2007 the indoor squad became National Indoor League Champions for the first time in their history, and finished runners up in the National Indoor Championship.

In the 2006/07 season the 1st XI finished 4th in the English Hockey League and were finalists in the EH National Cup for the second successive season. In order to gain experience of playing in a more competitive environment the men's 2nd XI and 3rd XI both made their debut in the London Higgins League, with the 2nd XI finished in top half of the Premier Division, while the 3rd XI entered the League in Division 2 and won promotion to Division 1 by finishing second. The U21 boys were Sussex Champions for the 4th year running; the Men's 2s and the Vets both won the Sussex Cup. Five of the 1st team squad and the team manager were selected to take part in the inaugural GB Super Leagues at the end of the season. EGHC won the BBC South East Club of the Year Award.

In 2008 EG successfully defended their National Indoor League title, were finalists in the English National Cup in 2006 and 2007 and obtained their highest ever placing in the English Hockey League in 2007/08 as runners-up meaning that they qualified for Euro Hockey League. In 2009 the 1st XI won the English Hockey League for the second time, they won the National Indoor Hockey League and also got to the last 8 of the European outdoor finals. They retained both their crowns and added the European Indoor Trophy after winning the competition for the first time in their history, but unfortunately got knocked out of the last 16 in the European outdoor finals.

The club was awarded England Hockey 'Club of the Year' in 2009 and is in the shortlisted for 2023. They competed in the National Indoor Finals 2011 as reigning champions and retained their crown after only losing 1 of 10 games and winning the rest on the way to the final at Wembley Arena, they beat Beeston 8-5 in the final. In the 2010-11 season outdoor season, despite dominating the league, they lost in the championship play off final to Beeston 2-1, in the Euro Hockey League they got knocked out in the Last 16 to rivals Reading HC.

The Women's 1st XI have been Sussex Premier Division champions on several occasions, and also won the EH Vase in 2009. They won promotion from the South Club's Women's Hockey League Division 3B to Division 2 in 2010/11, from Division 2 to Division 1 in 2011/12, to the National League East Conference in 2012/13 and to the Premier League in 2014/15 for the first time in their history.

The club mourned the death of Dennis Leman who died on 12 August 2010, he was a key figure in promoting EGHC status into what it is today. He was the EGHC president from 1972–1977 and was captain of the 1st XI side from 1952- 1962. EG also mourned the death of Frank Farrell who died on 3 June 2010. He was president of the Sussex Hockey Association between 1983–1993 and also managed Lewes HC for many years but was a frequent visitor to EGHC.

During the 2020–21 Women's Hockey League season, the women's team led the Premier Division before it was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic but the team gained consolation by defeating Clifton Robinsons 5-3 in the final of the Women's Championship Cup. [4] The success continued during the 2022–23 Women's England Hockey League season when the women won their first ever title after beating Surbiton 3–2 in the play off final. [5]

Players

Men's First Team Squad 2023–24 season

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1GKFlag of South Africa.svg  RSA Richard Curtis
30GKFlag of England.svg  ENG Olly Smart
3DFFlag of England.svg  ENG Charlie Simons
5DFFlag of England.svg  ENG Dan Faulkner
6DFFlag of England.svg  ENG Max Lowery
7MFFlag of England.svg  ENG Josh Gravestock
9FWFlag of England.svg  ENG Richard Lane
10DFFlag of England.svg  ENG Hugh Pembroke
11FWFlag of England.svg  ENG Jack Webb
13FWFlag of England.svg  ENG Isaac Farrent
15DFFlag of England.svg  ENG Simon Faulkner(captain)
16MFFlag of England.svg  ENG Archie Phillips
No.Pos.NationPlayer
18DFFlag of England.svg  ENG Alistair Clift
19DFFlag of England.svg  ENG Ollie Clift
20MFFlag of England.svg  ENG Matt Blood
21DFFlag of Wales (1959-present).svg  WAL Mike Wood
22MFFlag of Scotland.svg  SCO Ross Stott
25FWFlag of England.svg  ENG Kent Sheard
26FWFlag of England.svg  ENG Tom Tyers
27DFFlag of England.svg  ENG Josh Green
28FWFlag of England.svg  ENG James Smith
29FWFlag of Scotland.svg  SCO Sam Knight
31FWFlag of South Africa.svg  RSA Trevor Jr de Lora

Women's First Team Squad 2023–24 season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of England.svg  ENG Issy Field
27 GK Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  WAL Lauren Roberts
4 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Sally Sime
5 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Alex Malzer
6 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Amy Thompson
7 MF Flag of Argentina.svg  ARG Guadalupe Fernández Lacort (captain)
9 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Courtney Hansford(vice captain)
10 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Laura Roper
12 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Lily Walker
13 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Ellie Rayer
14 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Tess Howard
15 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Liv Breed
No.Pos.NationPlayer
16 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Anna Faulstich
17 DF Flag of Ireland.svg  IRL Chloe Brown
18 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Mollie Mason
19 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Sophie Bray
20 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Summer Knight-Thompson
21 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Charlotte Watkins
22 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Pippa Lock
23 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Biba Mills
24 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Auty Bowden
25 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Anna Moore
31 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Grace Balsdon

Men's first team honours

Women's first team honours

Notable players

Men's internationals

Women's internationals

Individual honours

References

  1. Montague, Trevor (2004). A-Z of Sport. The Bath Press. ISBN   0-316-72645-1.
  2. "Roll of Honour". England Hockey. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  3. "Jacques Paloume Festival 2019". eghockey.co.uk. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  4. 1 2 "WOMENS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS 2021". England Hockey. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  5. "England Hockey League Premier Division Finals 2023". England Hockey. Retrieved 4 April 2023.